Citizen Science for science: charting a path forward for collaborative efforts

The number of scientists and organizations leading marine citizen science projects has increased in recent years. These projects require various types of people – fishers, divers, tourists, captains, etc. – to participate.... [ view full abstract ]

The number of scientists and organizations leading marine citizen science projects has increased in recent years. These projects require various types of people – fishers, divers, tourists, captains, etc. – to participate. For many would-be-participants, the request is often similar, if not the same, as previous requests for data, observations, opinions, etc. from other citizen science programs. Thus, well-intentioned participants are often redundantly reporting the same information to multiple projects, and some have questioned why the leaders in the field cannot find a way to collaborate? In this focus group, we aim to synthesize the field of marine citizen science, looking for broad-scale trends of similarities in the way these data are collected, analyzed and treated, including outcomes. As well, we will be looking for themes that are unique. We will do this by bringing together researchers and practitioners who utilize citizen science or who are interested in developing citizen science programs, and citizen scientists. Following from this exercise, the goal will be to develop a path forward that could increase collaborative efforts among citizen science organizations that would reduce participant dilution and fatigue and increase overall contributor efficiencies and impact.